SOUTH COUNTY : Land Offered for Sheriff’s Substation

Sheriff’s deputies working in cramped, temporary quarters at the South County Regional Civic Center on Crown Valley Parkway in Laguna Niguel may get some breathing room if the county works out an agreement with local developers for a new substation.

The Santa Margarita Co. has proposed making available 3.6 acres for a substation in a business park the company owns on Arroyo Vista Esperanza in Rancho Santa Margarita.

In addition, plans are underway to improve the Crown Valley substation, which has served as the Sheriff’s Department’s South County headquarters since the 1970s and now functions in broken-down trailers, said Tony Carstens, Orange County’s associate administrative officer.

Sheriff’s Department personnel have worked out of the portable offices since 1979. Although some trailers were added to accommodate increasing numbers of deputies and staff needed to serve the growing South County area, the facility has remained at nearly 6,500 square feet since 1985, while the number of personnel using it has grown to about 270.

The county recently approved limited expansion of the facility, but Sheriff’s Capt. Doug Storm said in a report to county officials that “the substation remains overcrowded and the need for additional space is critical.”

The South County headquarters serves 335,000 residents in six cities and unincorporated areas over an area of 286 square miles. And by the year 2010, the area’s population is projected at 500,000.

Storm said the facility is so cramped that attendees at briefings spill into hallways and investigation areas, about 60 deputies don’t have lockers and must carry uniforms and equipment in their personal cars, in-custody suspects are often seated in handcuffs near the lunchroom, and the floors are collapsing.

Realizing a need for more sheriff substations in the 1980s, the county secured commitments of $6.8 million from local developers for construction of the facilities.

But progress on choosing sites and planning new facilities slowed in recent years as once-unincorporated communities became cities.

“It wasn’t clear if those cities, in the long run, were going to contract with the Sheriff’s Department or start their own police departments,” Carstens said.

Now that newly incorporated cities such as Laguna Niguel and Laguna Hills have long-term agreements with the Sheriff’s Department for police services, the county is moving again on building new facilities.

The Santa Margarita Co.’s offer would fulfill the company’s promise of contributing $1.6 million toward a new substation, Carstens said. Commitments from other developers would be relied upon to construct the building, which is expected to cost $3.7 million, he said.

Remaining funds in the $6.8 million dedicated by developers would be used either to locate another substation west of Interstate 5 or replace the trailers on Crown Valley Parkway with a permanent building.

“There shouldn’t be any cost to the general public,” Carstens said.

He said the Santa Margarita Co.’s offer will be reviewed by the county’s General Services Agency and a proposal could be brought to the Board of Supervisors in the next couple of months.

If all goes well, Carstens said, the new substation could be built in two years.